FAIRBANKS, Alak. – The Montana State University Billings women's basketball team would open up it's Alaska road trip with a dominant win over University of Alaska Fairbanks, collecting an impressive 86-45 win in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
The Yellowjackets (11-10, 3-5 GNAC) put together one of their best team efforts on both ends of the floor in their victory over the Nanooks (0-16, 0-8 GNAC), posting season highs in made field goals (33), made three-pointers (11), rebounds (58), and assists (23) in the game. The 'Jackets shot 33-76 (43.4%) overall, while holding the Nanooks to just 15-63 (23.8%) shooting on the defensive end. MSUB would outrebound Alaska Fairbanks by 25, including 22-11 on the offensive boards, capitalizing to score 25 second chance points.
 
"This was a really great win for us," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "We were dominant tonight on the glass, and I really liked the way we shared and took care of the ball with a season high in assists and nearly our season low in turnovers. I'm very proud of the way our team played."
 
Ten Yellowjackets made a basket in the game, with four players finishing in double figures. Tailey Harris and Allison Kunze each scored 14 points, with Harris going 4-7 from three and adding three assists and two rebounds, while Kunze shot 7-11 from the field with four rebounds and two assists. Cassie Chesnut would grab a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, tacking on a pair of blocks and steals, while Rae Smart would also score 13 points with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Kaitlin Grossman and Katelyn Hamilton each scored nine points, with Grossman totaling seven rebounds and four assists, while Hamilton would score her points on a trio of three-pointers, adding on four rebounds and two assists. Avery Burkhart would score six points on perfect 3-3 shooting in the fourth quarter, grabbing a pair of rebounds and an assist. Meanwhile, Brooklynn Brennan scored three points with three rebounds and an assist, Lauren Kuhbacher would score three points with three rebounds and an assist, and Alli Ligocki would score two points with three rebounds and an assist. Kyla Momberg would not score, but contributed with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
 
Harris would waste no time in propelling MSUB ahead, hitting a trio of three-pointers in the first 2:32 of the game and helping spark an 11-3 run to open the first quarter. But the Nanooks would respond with a run of their own, knotting the game back up at 19-19 with 2:26 remaining in the quarter. A pair of baskets from Chesnut and Smart would see MSUB pull ahead once more as the quarter ticked away, but a half court heave from the Nanooks would connect when time expired, giving the home team a one-point lead going into the second quarter. But Harris would push the Yellowjackets ahead with her fourth three of the game to open up the quarter, helping lead another early quarter run in which the Yellowjackets score the first 13 points of the second. Meanwhile the Yellowjackets would clamp down the Nanooks on defense, allowing just three points and holding Fairbanks to just 1-12 (8.3%) shooting to pull ahead at the half by a score of 39-27.
 
"The first quarter was incredibly fast paced," said Woodin. "Both teams were making shots. They tied the game up and hit that half quarter to end the first, but I thought from that point on our defense really became much stronger in the half court."
 
MSUB would continue to assert it's dominance in the third quarter, jumping out on a 9-2 run to push the lead to 19 early in the third quarter. Grossman would score seven points to lead MSUB in scoring in the Yellowjackets highest scoring period of the night, with MSUB scoring 27 points on 10-22 (45.5%) shooting from the field, including an impressive 5-9 (55.6%) mark from three-point range, including three straight three-pointers at one point, finishing the quarter on an 11-3 run and running the lead up to 66-40 going into the fourth quarter. And MSUB wouldn't slow down in the fourth quarter, finishing the fourth quarter by outscoring the Nanooks 20-5, shooting 9-19 (47.4%) overall in the final quarter and limiting the Nanooks to one made field goal in the final ten minutes of action to cruise to victory, and move back above .500 overall on the season.
 
"We just played excellent team basketball, and did a great job of making the extra pass," praised Woodin. "We had a very balanced scoring attack, and our bench really came through in a big way tonight. We had 37 bench points tonight, so kudos to them for stepping up and helping us keep the momentum going in the second half."
 
THE BUZZ: Kunze was named the Intermountain Health Player of the Game… Chesnut's double-double marked her fifth of the season, leading all MSUB players and freshman in the GNAC… Harris and Hamilton both tied their career-highs for three-pointers made in a game… the win saw MSUB score it's second most points on the season, and most so far in GNAC play…
 
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets complete the second leg of their Alaska road trip on Saturday, January 24, facing off against University of Alaska Anchorage at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. Tip off is schedule for 7:15 PM MT (5:15 PM AKT), with live video available on the GNAC Network, and live statistics available here.